Just to be clear I was a very early ZEN shareholder and am no longer am, but it is sad to see the state of this company and the damage caused many peoples investment.
Several years back (cant find the post) I had recommended that retail try to get one board seat and given that the company was mostly retail at the time it would be a good way to make sure the interests of retail were represented. I was not bashing A.E. I simply thought the interests of retail were not taken into account.
I received only one positive e-mail about the proposal as it seemed people on the boards were happy with the way the company was being run.
Part of the reason for my request was that I saw many posts from people saying that A.E. was not returning phone calls except for a select few. I believe that he was smart enough to know that he didn't not have to return calls as long as he maintained some sort of contact with the "influencer(s)" of the group. I feel he played the game well. People would get frustrated, A.E. would talk to one of the "chosen" or take them for a meal after a meeting and then posts would be made stating "choo choo" or "zen to ten" and then things on the board would settle down for awhile and A.E could go back to not returning calls for the most part, and collecting his nice salary without anyone really holding his feet to the fire.
This is not a reflection on anyone he did talk to, but an observation that A.E knows the game and was maybe "playing" certain individual(s)
This is a game I believe he knows well and is good at. He put little or no money in, got a lot of shares for next to nothing and collected a nice salary for years and got to drive a tesla on the company dime as well as take many, probably costly trips around the world promoting a "sure thing" that may never be.
I would think A.E has planned for several different scenarios. He probably wins in each one, no matter what the result of the vote is. I would think he already has his next property and play picked out and ready to go.
If he loses the vote, he takes severance an sells stock he got practically free and what happens to SP?
He wins, raises money and rides the horse until it drops (or succeeds) and moves onto his next venture.
Let me stress he is not doing anything illegal. He is simply playing a game he knows well, The VSE game, where the playing board if definitely not slanted in the favor of the retail shareholder.
How well do the dissident board know this game? maybe well? I don't know, but I think A.E may have "played" one or more of them over the years and recruited them unknowingly to keep retail "sedated"
Where does this end up? That is up to each person to determine on their own, But to think that retail will win in any current possible outcome would in my opinion to be a long shot. I imagine some investors already figured this out and sold and that is why the SP is where it is.
Is there a take away from this and other companies like NOT? For me it is, when people (investors) pushing a company and get too "chummy" with management, and do not hold their feet to the fire, be very skeptical of what they have to say and make your own investment decisions.
Again, let me be clear I am not disparaging any person from either side, as I stated I no longer have shares.
It is an ugly game and some play it better that others and its usually always at the expense of retail.
I wish all current shareholder luck no matter what the outcome of the vote is. |
